In this claim we acted for the widow of David, a former ships’ fitter from the Chatham Royal Naval Dockyards. He had worked at the dockyards during the early 1970s, including on HMS Jaguar, Eskimo, Diomede, Bercanti, the Aurora and Dido where he was heavily exposed to asbestos dust without protection. This was mainly from removing and installing lagging to pipework but also through exposure to asbestos dust just from walking through the ships’ corridors. It was over 40 years later that this asbestos exposure led to David developing mesothelioma, leading to his death from mesothelioma 22 months later at age 67.

Our approach

We met David and his wife at their home shortly after his initial diagnosis with mesothelioma and took a full statement. Shortly afterwards his consultant advised he now doubted he had mesothelioma and so the claim was put on hold for 5 months until the diagnosis was confirmed. We obtained further evidence and sent a full letter of claim for asbestos-related disease to the Ministry of Defence. Their loss adjusters admitted liability for asbestos-related mesothelioma and paid interim compensation of £50,000. We obtained funding from them for David to have the expensive private immunotherapy treatment he wanted for his mesothelioma, which probably extended David’s life by some months. We advised David of his settlement options; to either seek an immediate settlement or to delay the process and leave his widow to settle the balance of his asbestos claim after he was gone, when much greater compensation could be obtained. David chose the latter.

After he died, we met with David’s widow to take full instructions to finalise the compensation claim. We worked with our Private Client team to have David’s widow appointed as his executor and developed a good rapport with the MoD’s loss adjustors, allowing us to settle the compensation claim for a very fair and substantial figure without having to start court proceedings. We dealt with this large mesothelioma claim as experienced specialists without ever needing to involve a barrister, even to draft a complex schedule of losses and negotiate a very large settlement.

The outcome

During David’s lifetime we were pleased to get full funding for private immunotherapy treatment for his mesothelioma (a large five figure sum) to extend his life and also a general interim payment of £50,000. After he died we secured final compensation of £506,652 gross for his widow for his asbestos disease. Being a mesothelioma claim there were no deductions for our costs.

Quote from David's family:

We wanted to thank you and let you know how much we appreciated all your hard work, professional support, compassion and guidance. It was helpful knowing you were with us on what was a long and emotional journey. There is not enough ink in the world to write a cheque for the life David lost but we know if he was here now he would have the biggest smile on his face knowing his family had been well provided for.

The Lawyer

This claim for mesothelioma compensation from the Chatham dockyards was dealt with by Jeremy Horton. He is a Solicitor and Partner in the firm, specialising in asbestos compensation claims in Kent, Medway, Essex & beyond. Jeremy is passionate about helping mesothelioma victims and their families achieve fair compensation as quickly as possible. He is the only APIL Accredited Occupational and Asbestos Disease Specialist solicitor in Kent, Medway, Essex, Surrey or Sussex. Jeremy can be contacted by email or on 01622 680415.